Search - Carleen Anderson :: True Spirit

This will show you that true talent still exists

05/31/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Simply put, this little known record from this little known artist (tragecally) is THE best album ever made. Carleen Anderson (formally of The Young Disciples) can write about things in ways where other song writers would use terrible old cliches. Her voice is just stunning with an amazing range to it. The opening of Let it Last is surely one of the most beautiful recordings of all time. buy this record, it will never dissapoint you - years after its release (I bought it the week it was released) it still enchants me, if I never heard any other record than this for the rest of my life, I would still die a happy man. And to the other reviewer who mentioned Rahsaan Patterson.. yes, his album is also just superb."

3.5 stars: Not "nearly" as good as it could've been.

Manuel | California | 11/17/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I read on Carleen's website not too long ago that she honestly felt uncomfortable with her solo debut on account of it being done without a live band present in the studio to record with her. I tend to agree with her on this part, since the production values on True Spirit (with the exception of a few "live-sounding" tracks) really haven't aged that well and only serve to undermine the genuine power and emotion of her singing and lyricism throughout. Fortunately for Carleen, she righted her ship fairly quick on her second album Blessed Burden-thanks largely in part to British "old school"-style rocker Paul Weller playing a HUGE role in co-producing and co-writing the album. Unfortunately for us, that bonafide '90s R&B/Soul classic is now only available as a UK import so good luck trying to land a copy, lol! Truth be told, if Carleen had hooked up with Weller from the start instead of her record label ill-advisedly hiring Ian Green to oversee the making of her debut, then True Spirit might've wound up being every bit as good (if not better) than her more fully-realized sophomore effort.



Still, there's enough decent material found here to make it worth buying. However, if you want the very best of what Carleen has to offer then I strongly recommend you start with Blessed Burden instead and go from there. Take it from me, her later work far surpasses anything she's done on True Spirit (in particular her latest release Soul Providence-hands down her best album TO DATE)."